Five Episodes Will Offer Classical, Pops and Holiday Repertoire
PITTSBURGH — October 13, 2020 — Comcast announced today that it will offer the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience On Demand for Xfinity customers in Pittsburgh and throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. The first episode will premiere on October 19, 2020, with the Pittsburgh region and different musical genres featured throughout the series’ five episodes.
While this unique programming can also be accessed at www.pittsburghsymphony.org beginning October 19 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, Comcast is an exclusive video partner and Xfinity customers can access episodes On Demand on the biggest screens in their home. On standard set-top boxes, they should navigate to Get Local/Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; on the X1 platform, they should navigate to Xfinity Services/Get Local/ Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra or say “Get Local” into the X1 voice remote.
“Comcast is proud to bring the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s newest music into the homes of music lovers in southwestern Pennsylvania.” said Toni Murphy, Comcast’s Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We knew the PSO was unable to offer live performances and that many of our Xfinity customers are long-time fans. Our Xfinity Video on Demand platform enables us to unite the PSO with its audience and provide a new, virtual Front Row experience from the convenience of their homes.”
Each episode is expected to be about 60-90 minutes long with music performed by ensembles of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra accompanied by special interviews and other features that bridge the musical journey that is guided by the episode’s particular theme. These features will include looks behind the scenes; an exploration of Heinz Hall with host Jim Cunningham, WQED-FM’s artistic director; and unique perspectives from the musicians, conductors and other members of the Pittsburgh Symphony leadership with interviewer Sydni Grant Goldman.
Episode One: Our Love for Pittsburgh
Premieres October 19, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. EDT
The virtual curtain rises to the sounds of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, a piece written just a decade before the founding of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, a noble, generous work that exemplifies Pittsburgh and its people. This episode continues with works from composers as varied as Jessie Montgomery, Francesco Geminiani, Ennio Morricone, and Billy Strayhorn, as the Orchestra salutes Pittsburgh through a glorious musical exploration of our dramatic geographic setting and the people drawn to it—the innovators, the immigrants, the trailblazers and the artists. In this episode, the Pittsburgh Symphony welcomes acclaimed violinist Alexi Kenney as guest Concertmaster and leader.
“The Pittsburgh Symphony is grateful to have Comcast as a partner in Front Row through this important commitment they’re making to support great music and to bring this innovative series to such a significant audience in the region,” said Melia Tourangeau, president and CEO, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.